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Thanks for the thoughts, I think my problem is that it was coming out a little too generically. I wanted to mention specific classes but can't seem to find an actual course catalog on the website anywhere. Which leaves me with just talking about the few classes they post as examples on the application page which sounds a little disingenuous.

Does anybody else find the PowerPoint essay overlapping the resume? I'm trying to add some more detail and flesh out what I think are important personal highlights but at the same time most of those highlights are already covered in my resume just in not so much detail. I have a slide(might become 2) that is on just personal info that is new but the slides on professional and educational experiences feel like they are repeating the resume. This especially concerns me since the question specifically says "Understanding what we currently know about you from the application, what else would you like us to know?" I think I might just need to completely rethink my approach to this question or at least the first few slides of mine.

Do not fall into the trap of thinking that your PPT has to hit on specific categories. If your educational achievements are already covered in sufficient detail on your resume then don't include it in your PPT. The question tells you to look at your application as a whole and then use 4 pages to fill in the blanks. In my PPT there was nothing about my educational or professional life. I did expand on one EC that was mentioned in my resume. Other than that everything else was personal. Think of the four pages as a chance to let the adcom get to know you. Remember that Booth uses admissions fellows (2nd year students) to do the first read of an application. Admissions fellows are looking for people that they would want as classmates and in their network. They want to look at your application and see that you're a person that they would want to hang out with at TNDC (Thursday Night Drinking Club) or stay in their cabin during ski trip. This is also a really good place to show why you fit well at Booth. Think about the school's culture and the aspects that mesh with your personality. Show these things off in the PPT.

As for the flexible curriculum I don't know if it's really about saying, "I want to take X or Y class." The point of the flexible curriculum is to allow you to take the subjects you want when you will need them at the level that suits your ability. If you have an accounting background you don't have to sit through intro accounting with the people like me who don't know a debit from a credit. You can cover your accounting requirement with a higher level class. Let's say you know you won't be going into anything finance related and want to jump into your marketing and strategy courses. You can put off taking a foundation class in accounting til 2nd or 3rd quarter if you like. Remember, Booth's philosophy is that you need to learn the business disciplines and can then apply them to any business problem (it's like your tool kit). It's up to you how and when you choose to learn each discipline. Think about your goals and the subject areas that you may want to study at a more intermediate level. Think about the classes that you would want to put off for a semester or even for 2nd year. You don't have to outline your proposed class schedule in your essay but you can show that you know how the flexible curriculum will meet your unique needs. HTH. _________________

I keep hearing that some schools are more rigorous and quantitative than others--what does this exactly mean? I'm an engineer so math and applications of math don't really phase me. I understand that some of the higher level financial classes may require some experience building and working with models. But what about some of the general classes in management, marketing etc? Can anyone explain this to me, I'd really like to know how these schools differ.

I keep hearing that some schools are more rigorous and quantitative than others--what does this exactly mean? I'm an engineer so math and applications of math don't really phase me. I understand that some of the higher level financial classes may require some experience building and working with models. But what about some of the general classes in management, marketing etc? Can anyone explain this to me, I'd really like to know how these schools differ.

Classes haven't started yet, so my perspective is somewhat limited.

But it's my understanding that Booth emphasizes a more quantitative approach to problem solving than other schools. So regardless of your class subject (finance, economics, strategy, marketing, etc.), you'll often be analyzing numbers and solving data intensive problems.

Furthermore, Booth places ~50% of its grads into finance. So if you're interested in taking some extremely advanced, quant-heavy finance classes, you'll have a lot of options. _________________

Is anyone else having trouble with the powerpoint? I have a story and framework all picked out, but:

A) My graphical ability is suspect at best. This I could overcome with many revisions.B) More worrisome, I have very few pictures of myself doing the activities I'd be talking about, especially the period after college (my ppt doesn't really work without showcasing me, I don't think...)

At this point, even if I was to produce a ppt, it would be almost entirely text, at which point shouldn't I be writing the essay instead? I know I could tell my story effectively that way, but it just feels like a big trap. Anyone else in the same predicament? _________________

Is anyone else having trouble with the powerpoint? I have a story and framework all picked out, but:

A) My graphical ability is suspect at best. This I could overcome with many revisions.B) More worrisome, I have very few pictures of myself doing the activities I'd be talking about, especially the period after college (my ppt doesn't really work without showcasing me, I don't think...)

At this point, even if I was to produce a ppt, it would be almost entirely text, at which point shouldn't I be writing the essay instead? I know I could tell my story effectively that way, but it just feels like a big trap. Anyone else in the same predicament?

A) You still have a few weeks before the deadline, right? That should be plenty time to put something together and then tweak the graphics/layout until it looks good. The adcom is less concerned with your powerpoint skills and more concerned with your ability to produce a creative visual narration of information left out of your other essays.

B) Only 1 of my 4 powerpoint slides had pictures of me. The rest were loaded with photos I found online.

C) I have seen powerpoints from admitted students that had tons of texts and others that had none. None of my slides had more than 3 sentences of text on them. It's my opinion that given the nature of the project, less words is better.

Is anyone else having trouble with the powerpoint? I have a story and framework all picked out, but:

A) My graphical ability is suspect at best. This I could overcome with many revisions.B) More worrisome, I have very few pictures of myself doing the activities I'd be talking about, especially the period after college (my ppt doesn't really work without showcasing me, I don't think...)

At this point, even if I was to produce a ppt, it would be almost entirely text, at which point shouldn't I be writing the essay instead? I know I could tell my story effectively that way, but it just feels like a big trap. Anyone else in the same predicament?

I agree with MDF. Like I said in an earlier post, there is no template for the 4 slides. If you have lots of text then so be it. If the pictures don't feature you then so be it. Hell, you could tell your story and only use cartoon characters. You're trying to create a narrative that shows who you are. No one says that it has to be an overt representation.

There is still plenty of time. If the PPT isn't sitting well with you then write a draft of the essay. Revise both the essay and PPT in the next couple of weeks. You will likely have a good idea on which one you want to submit. I agonized over the PPT for weeks but actually put mine together 3 days before the application was due. Trust me, it will click and when it does the whole thing becomes quite easy to create. _________________

Is anyone else having trouble with the powerpoint? I have a story and framework all picked out, but:

A) My graphical ability is suspect at best. This I could overcome with many revisions.B) More worrisome, I have very few pictures of myself doing the activities I'd be talking about, especially the period after college (my ppt doesn't really work without showcasing me, I don't think...)

A) How about friends who are graphical wizards??? Your ideas. Their skills in assisting you. Outsourcing!B) That's all right. I've seen so many powerpoints full of pictures of the candidate doing stuff, and you know what? Rather than making you seem unique, they make you seem the same like everyone else.... apparently we all take the same pictures while on holiday. _________________

I remember Sandy on the Harvard thread saying that the new layout of gmatclub made it harder to navigate and find threads. I wonder if that's having an affect on the overall traffic of the site, and isn't indicative of a drop in MBA apps. _________________

I was able to combine 2 paragraphs that felt a little repetitive and that saved about 50 words. I'll give it another go through but at least 520 words feels close enough to the 500 limit that I feel ok about it. Still fits on one page at least.

I was able to combine 2 paragraphs that felt a little repetitive and that saved about 50 words. I'll give it another go through but at least 520 words feels close enough to the 500 limit that I feel ok about it. Still fits on one page at least.

If you're at 520 then leave it be (unless you think it needs grammar or content revisions). I was about 35 words over on a 600 word essay last year. The adcom is not counting and they don't care at that point. _________________

What will the admission committee think if I decide to choose the 600-word essay instead of the 4-page ppt presentation? I have a nice story to tell about my experience studying abroad as I feel it tells a lot about who I am.